The sole survivor of a trawler tragedy that killed six men off the Queensland coast has paid tribute to his “great brothers”.

Almost a month after the FV Dianne capsized off the Town of 1770, claiming the lives of his crewmates, Ruben McDornan publicly opened up on the tragedy for the first time, writing that his “heart has been broken”.

“But like my great brothers have shown me, your heart is just a muscle, and it needs to be torn and broken down to grow,” he wrote on Facebook today.

Mr McDornan spent several hours in open water after the sinking, before he was spotted and saved by a passing vessel’s crew.

He spent at total of 12 hours at sea, wearing only a pair of board shorts.

The bodies of his crewmates Ben Leahy, 45 and Adam Hoffman, 30, were later recovered from the vessel, while the other four crewmen - Eli Tonks, 39, Adam Bidner, 33, Chris Sammut, 34, and Zach Feeney, 28 - also died in the incident and remain missing.

Four of the six missing fishermen have not been found.

“My heart might be broken at this time but it is big enough to hold all of my brothers forever and always,” Mr McDornan said.